William ramsay



(No Model.)

W. RAMSAY.

PLAYING GARDS. No. 305,018. Patented Sept. 9, 1884.

WITNESSES l W INVENTOR ATTO'RNEY 35 the Bible.

UNITED Srn rns \VILLIAM RAMSAY, OF TIFFIN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF Parent Orrrcn.

TVVO-THIRDS TO GEORGE S. YINGLIN G AND LOUIS WV. ZIMMER, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

[JEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 305,018, dated September 9, 1884.

Application filed June 18, 1884.

(No model.)

T at whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RAMSAY, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and residing at Tiffin, in the county of Seneca and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Card Gaines,of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. My invention relates to certain improvements in playing-cards, and is designed to combine religious instruction with innocent amusement. It is further designed to supersede useless card-playing, while the fascination that attends the said card-playing is not I 5 lost, but aids very materially in fastening the great truths of the Bible, on which the game is founded, firmly in the'minds of the players. It has a still further object in creating alively interest and desire to search the Scriptures.

To describe the game and also the manner of playing the same, reference will be had to the annexed drawing, .in which the face of one of the cards is shown. r The material for playing the game consists of 2 5 sixty-six cards, one for each book of the Bible. At the top of each card, and centrallylocated, is the name of the book thecard is to represent. Forinstance, the one shown is Psalms. Immediately following the title is the number of chapters the book contains, on a line with the said title, therefore occupying the upper right-hand corner of the card. The upper left-hand corner of the card is occupied by a number representing the order of the book in For instance, Genesis would be No. 1, Exodus No. 2, and. Psalms (the one represented) No. 19. Adding together the regular number of the book and the number of chapters it contains gives the play 40 ing-number of the card, and this is placed under the title. For instance, Psalms is No. 19, and contains one hundred and fifty chapters; therefore its number is 169. On the card is also a brief of what the book is and what it contains, and also aq'uotation from it. For example, the one shown has on it the following: This book is called The Psalms of David, he being the only author mentioned in the New Testament, (LukeZO- LZJ This muchrelates to certain facts about the book. And then follows abrief of the subject-matter ofthebook;

for instance, still quoting from the same as above: This book sets forth more fully than any other the Messiah and His Kingdom; many of Davids trials depicted the trials of Christ. And then follows a quotation from the book: He was made sin for us. The other cards are arranged after the same design.

It is evident that it is within the spirit of the invention to arrange the matter on the cards in any desirable or attractive form.

To play the game it, is necessary to have two or more players. One player shuflies the cards and deals them to the others in order, and one or more at a time, as he sees fit, till they are all out. The first player to the left of the dealer then places a card on the table, face down, calling only the name of the card. Then the others, in turn, each place on the table a card, face up. The first player then 7: turns his card and announces the playing-number, and the player whose card contains a playing-number within, say, ten of the first. card is entitled to all the cards on the table.

If none come within the required number, the 7 5 first player takes the cards. To illustrate: Suppose the first player announces The Acts as his card, and the others show Daniel, No. 39, Revelation, No. 88,and Matthew, No. 68, then the one having Matthew, N0. 68, will take the other cards, as the number of Acts is 72, and sixty-eight is within ten of seventy-two. After all the cards have been played, the sum of the playingnulnbers of the cards won by each player is ascertained, and the one having the greatest sum of numbers wins the game. As in card games a card of extra value, or joker,

is used, so in thisthe particular card above described-viz., The book of Psalms -is the valuable one in the game. Its number, 169, is the highest used in the game, and the player of the card is entitled toall the other cards on the board at the time no matter what their v numbers may be. It may or may not be used, 5 as the players see fit to decide at the beginning of the game.

Having described the device, what I claim is r 1. Playing-cards'each having on it the title of one of the books of the Bible, the number of the chapters of the book, the canonical numof the chapters of the book, and the canonical ber of the said book, the sum of the two numnumber of the said book. bers, and information relative to the said book. 2. Playing-cards each having on it the title In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 5 of one of the books of the Bible, the number presence of two witnesses.

of the chapters of the book, the canonical number of the said book, and the sum of the two WILLIAM RAMSAY' numbers. Witnesses:

3. Playing-cards each having on it the tit1e J AMES CRAWFORD, 10 of one of the books of the Bible, the number HENRY T. HELLER. 

